Property owner charged with murder in farmhand's disappearance

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GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — Investigators searching the ranch of a woman accused of killing a farmhand and burning his body say they found human bones in a burn pile on her property, blood in her house and a bloody knife, according to court documents.

Sheila LaBarre, who was in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kenneth Countie. He had moved from Massachusetts to her 115-acre ranch in Epping in February and disappeared a month later.

According to a court affidavit released Tuesday, a Wal-Mart bag was found near the burn pile. When asked by officers on March 25 where Countie was, LaBarre said he was “in the bag.”

When asked if it were possible that she burned Countie, LaBarre said yes, but added that she didn’t hurt him.

The affidavit, prepared by Sgt. Robert Estabrook of the New Hampshire State Police’s Major Crime Unit, also says investigators found a notebook dated last July with a sketch of a body and details such as “110 pounds, 5’4”’ and an itemized list, including “incinerated/burned,” “ashes flushed,” “scatter,” and “bury.”

Investigators also said they found other burn piles on the ranch containing clothing remnants and a burned mattress with a “fatty substance” on the springs that could be consistent with “some kind of flesh or tissue burning,” the affidavit said.